Silverdale Surgeon Steps Up Into Thin Air for Lung Research

David Mourning, a Silverdale surgeon, signs the logbook that proves he made it to the 14,411-foot summit of Mount Rainier during his 2007 ascent. (PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID MOURNING)

David Mourning practices icewall climbing during a training climb for his Mount Rainier ascent, as part of the American Lung Association's Climb For Clean Air fundraiser. (PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID MOURNING)

David Mourning, a Silverdale surgeon who is participating in this week's Climb for Clean Air fundraiser for the American Lung Association, often gets to look down on creation. (LENNA HIMMELSTEIN | KITSAP SUN)

SILVERDALE

Orthopedic surgeon David Mourning is packing up his gear and heading to Mount Rainier's summit on a two-day trek.

It's to provide healing different from the kind he usually provides.

The 36-year-old doctor, who has practiced at The Doctors Clinic in Silverdale for four years, has already been up to the mountain's 14,411-foot summit. Unlike his trip last June, he'll also get a high from helping others, through the American Lung Association's Climb for Clean Air event.

"A combination of climbing again and a good cause, it was a good deal," Mourning said. "I'm just really looking forward to climbing the mountain again."

Mourning, the only climber from Kitsap County participating, will disembark Tuesday morning, but 28 of the more than 50 climbers involved will have already reached the summit. The event consists of four separate guided groups, the largest with 18 participants. Mourning's 17-member band of climbers hopes to reach Rainer's summit sometime around 10 a.m. Friday.

To participate in the event, the ALA requires that climbers raise a minimum amount of $3,500. This year, the 54 adventurers together raised $240,000 according to Washington's ALA director of communications and previous manager of Climb for Clean Air, Paul Payton.

Mourning, who was married last November, raised the minimum for his entry by way of help from family and friends. Instead of having a gift registry, the newlyweds opted to each choose a nonprofit to benefit.

After speaking with his sister-in-law Jennifer Paegler about her involvement with the ALA during the past four years, Mourning chose to climb Rainier again for the cause.

Now in its 20th year, the ALA's Rainier expedition has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various outreach and education programs, including summer camps for children suffering from asthma, a disease that has affected the life of the event's honorary chairman, Lou Whittaker.

The celebrated mountaineer, who now approaches his 80th birthday, won't be climbing with the guides. But he'll be on hand at the base of the mountain and at the celebratory dinners put on for the climbers returning from the summit providing words of encouragement.

Whittaker, along with his son Peter and fellow mountaineer Joe Horiskey, is one of three principal owners of Rainier Mountaineering Inc., the group that's providing the guides and training for the climb and has permits for special portions of the mountain.

"Although he might not be climbing, his family name resonates within the community," Payton said. "He has a great ability to connect with individuals."

Mourning has already climbed several of the Northwest's other premier locales, including participation in a rescue course on Mount Adams, and he has a passion for enjoying what nature has to offer on the West Coast.

"It's healthy, it's alive," Mourning said. "There is so much open land."